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Before it had begun airing, Blue Box (or Ao No Hako) immediately caught my attention out of all the anime of the fall 2024 season. I love badminton and I love romance. From just the PV, it showed what the anime would be like. The animation, the ending (made by Eve, who requires no explanation) and opening theme, the art style, and really the overall vibe of the story were really well captured. Furthemore, the manga (which, keep in mind, I have no read), from what I understood, was also highly praised. So, when the actual show started airing on October 3rd, my expections were ... already set unrealistically high. I was not dissappointed. At all.

The first thing most people notice is the stunning art style and animation. From the studio behind Tower of God Season 1, Don't Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro Season 1 and Orange (which are all solidly animated), there is no one who would think otherwise [of the animation]. Additionally, WIT Studio is on the project too, which, again, requires no explanation. The premise is also very interesting, but not unheard of. Personally, I am a sucker for premises that involve/revolve around a secret/secret identity. Works like Spy x Family, The Eminence in Shadow, Miraculous Ladybug, Spider-Man, and even Yamada-kun and the Seven Withces, just to name a few. I am not entirely sure the human psychological reason behind my excitement with knowning something in-verse characters don't, but that's that.

However, there is one major issue with the story, and that is the fact that it is too "RomCom-y"/generic. The protaganist, Taiki Inomata, is literally just a random boy picked off the streets of Japan. There is almost nothing special about him, expect for the fact that he is the main character. Yet, his childhood friend is a pro gymnast AND he is living with the most popular and strongest basketball player. And they both like him. This isn't necessarily, per se, a bad thing though, at least not right now, given that recently I've watched/read lots of anime/manga with a "winner" (as opposed to loser) MC.

That being said, Blue Box is somehow really enjoyable to watch, despite the aforementioned complaint. For some reason, it [cliche tropes] just does not bother me, like, at all. Maybe I'm hella biased or whatever, but yes, Blue Box is great, give it a chance.

Oh, and something else I forgot to mention was the characters (mainly the side characters) and pacing. So far, it's pretty much perfect. (All) characters have diverse personalities and they (SC) don't feel like like throw-aways. Although, (we are only 6 episodes in) there's been very minimal development so far. I do hope to see that change. Pacing's pretty good too so far, and overall it's pretty well-written for an anime/manga.

Enjoyment - 10/10
Story/plot/premise/pacing - 9/10
Characters - 8/10
Sound (sfx, ost, op/ed theme, voice acting (JP)) - 8/10
Visuals (art, animation) - 10/10
Atmosphere - 7/10